Sportsnet.ca takes a look at how the Canadians fared on the sixth day of March Madness.
South Region
Nick Stauskas (Michigan) 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
The Wolverines put forth a pretty remarkable effort to come back from 14 down with under seven minutes to play. As expected, point guard play proved to be Kansas undoing as Ejijah Johnson made several turnovers in the closing minutes to help Michigan open the door a crack on a comeback, a door which Michigan star Trey Burke kicked wide open. After a slow start, Burke scored 23 points in the second half and the extra frame to help lead the Wolverines to the Elite 8. Canadian sharpshooter Nick Stauskas scored nine of his 11 points in the opening 20 minutes to keep Michigan in the game until Burke woke up.
Saturday’s games
East Region
Marquette vs. Syracuse
Junior Cadougan (Marquette)
Noel Jones (Syracuse)
The Orange visited Milwaukee in late February and were bested by the home side 74-71 who were led by Davante Gardner as he scored 26 points on near-perfect shooting (26 points, 7-7 from field, 12-13 from the line). Canadian guard Junior Cadougan also chipped in 12 points and recorded 4 steals. They will not be confused by the length of the Syracuse zone like Indiana was as Marquette sees it at least once a year in the Big East. Of course, this is a different Syracuse team than they faced last month as star guard Michael Carter-Williams seems to have rediscovered his fine form from earlier in the season. No player helped his draft stock more than MCW did on Thursday night in the Orange win over the Hoosiers. Whatever the outcome, we will see a Canadian in the Final Four this year.
West Region
Wichita St. vs. Ohio St.
Chadrack Lufile, Nick Wiggins (Wichita State)
After a one-round respite when they were favoured over the dispatched La Salle Exporers, the Wichita St. Shockers return to their familiar underdog role on Saturday. After knocking off the region’s top seed (Gonzaga), the Shockers will not be afraid of the Ohio St. Buckeyes on Saturday night. Ohio St. plays a style similar to most Big 10 teams, built around man-to-man defence and a more methodical approach on the offensive end where the inside-out combo of DeShaun Thomas and Aaron Craft lead the charge. Wichita St. will try to push the tempo a little more, but they will need to his their open looks here as the Buckeyes play much better defence than Gonzaga did. The Shockers shot 50 per cent from long range against the Zags, can they do it again?